BURTON US OPEN 1/2 PIPE FINALS | BLANCO IS BACK

Another heater of a day here in Vail. The World’s Greatest Snowboard Event continued to give the people what they wanted. Epic boarding, cold beers and copious amounts of vitamin D.

It was a legendary day of halfpipe riding as the field of 10 men and five women competed in Vail Mountain’s perfectly sculpted 22-foot pipe described by competitors as ‘almost too good to be true.’ Both winners earned $45,000 and the honor of the Burton U.S. Open halfpipe title in this finale of the halfpipe contest season and one of the last major contests ahead of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics.

Sixteen-year-old Chloe Kim (USA) defended her title for a second year in a row. Kim improved her score on each consecutive run finishing with an 87.12 on her third and final run. Kim started off with a huge backside air, traveling down the pipe with a massive frontside 1080 tail, into a Cab 720 melon, frontside 900 and finishing with a crowd pleasing McTwist Indy.

Kim was clearly happy with her result today, she says, “I’ve been coming to the U.S. Open for such a long time and it’s always so nice to be back. Today I was just super hyped with the way I was riding and it feels really good to put one down.”

Elena Hight (USA) took second place with a score of 80.12, and Maddie Mastro (USA) landed in third with a score of 78.25. Kelly Clark (USA) unfortunately was unable to compete due to a fall during practice.

Classic White | Crispin Cannon Photo

Shaun White came ready with an arsenal of tricks to defend his title against a packed field of contenders. White says, “I wanted to come out of the gate swinging. I knew everyone was going to be going for their hardest runs. I had to step it up.” And step it up he did, White put down his most progressive run ever posting a score of 92.74, winning with a nearly 10-point lead. His run started off with a lofty backside air, into a frontside double cork 1080 stalefish, upping the ante with a Cab double cork 1440 mute, into a frontside 540 stalefish, a backside double McTwist, and ending with a frontside 900 tail. This is the first time in competition that White has landed his Cab double cork 1440 followed by a double McTwist 1260 in what was a history-making halfpipe run at the final event of the 35th annual Burton U.S. Open.

Scotty James punching his way into 2nd | Crispin Cannon Photo

Scotty James (AUS) took second place with a score of 82.87, and Chase Josey (USA) secured third place with a score of 79.87.

Clif Bar awarded the Clif ‘Raise the Bar’ Awards for the third year running. These awards reward creativity and style by spotlighting the best throwback trick in the halfpipe. Danny Davis won the men’s award with his fronside alley oop Indy on the first hit of the pipe. Maddie Mastro won the award for the women with her stylish frontside 540 stalefish also on the first hit.